| 1820 | born Eduard Douwes Dekker on 2nd March in the Korsjespoortsteeg in Amsterdam |
| 1838 | passage to the former Dutch East Indies on board of the trade ship whose captain was his own father |
| 1839 | arrival in Batavia on 4th January in Batavia |
| 1840 | appointment as clerk at the General Audi-tor's Office in January |
| 1841-1845 | working on the Losse bladen uit het dagboek van een oude man (= Loose pages from an old man's diary) |
| 1842 | conversion to Roman-Catholicism out of love for Caroli-ne Versteegh, though she never married him. Appointment as Controller second class in Natal |
| 1843 | working on the theatre play De Eerloze (= The dishonoured), which was later published as De bruid daarboven (= The bride up there) (1864) |
| 1844 | suspended in January because of a deficit in July 1843. Leaves for Batavia in September, where he spends some time in utmost poverty with his native love, Si Oepi Keteh |
| 1845 | temporary appointment as secretary to the assistant-resident at Krawang |  |
| 1846 | marries Tine (Everdina Huberta baroness of Wijnbergen) on 10th April. Appointment as clerk in the residential office at Poerworedjo (Java) |
| 1848 | appointment as secretary of the residence Menado (Celebes) |
| 1851 | appointment as assistant-resident of Ambon in October. Writes a long letter to his old friend Arie C. Kruseman, publisher |
| 1852-1855 | leave in Europe to recover from illness |
| 1854 | birth of his son Edu on 1st January |
| 1856 | appointment as assistant-resident of Lebak (Bantam, Java). Officially installed on 21st January. Charge against regent Karta Nata Negara on 24th February. Conflict with resident Brest van Kempen. Transfer to Ngawi on 23rd March. Resigns after governor-general Duymaer van Twist refuses to see him. Honourable discharge on 4th April |
| 1857 | leaves for Europe without wife and son. Birth of his daughter Nonnie on 1st June |
| 1857-1860 | roams Europe, visiting, among other countries, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Tine and the children return to Europe in 1859.
Tine and Douwes Dekker meet up in Antwerp, after which Tine leaves for The Hague and Douwes Dekker for Brussels. There he writes Max Havelaar in Au Prince Belge, a small Brussels hotel |  |
| 1860 | publication of Max Havelaar of the koffiveilingen der Nederlandse Handelsmaatschappij (= Max Havelaar or the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company) under the pseudonym Multatuli |
| 1861 | publication of Over vrijen arbeid in Nederlandsch Indië (= On Free Labour in the Dutch Indies), Wijs mij de plaats waar ik gezaaid heb (= Show me the place where I sowed) and Minnebrieven (= Love letters) |
| 1862 | loses court case against Jacob van Lennep, who failed to provide a timely financial account after the publication of Max Havelaar. First volume of Ideën (= Ideas) |
| 1864 | launches a fierce attack against the Dutch government at an interna-tional colonial congress in Amsterdam. Temporary stay in Germany with his mistress, Mimi Hamminck Schepel |  |
| 1865 | publication of the second volume of Ideën and of De zegen Gods door Waterloo (= God's blessing through Waterloo) |
| 1867 | Een en ander naar aanleiding van Bosscha's Pruisen en Nederland (= Some reflections in reply to Bosscha's 'Prussia and the Netherlands') |
| 1870 | Nog eens: Vrye arbeid in Nederlandsch Indië (= Once again: Free Labour in the Dutch Indies) |
| 1871 | Duizend-en-eenige hoofdstukken over specialiteiten (= Thousand and one chapters about specialties) |
| 1871-1877 | third to seventh volume of Ideën |
| 1872 | Millioenenstudiën (= Millionaire studies) and the theatre play Vorstenschool (= School for kings) as Idea 930 in the fourth volume of Ideën |
| 1874 | Tine dies in Venice |  |
| 1875 | marries Mimi (Maria Hamminck Schepel); first performance of Vorstenschool in Rotterdam |
| 1877 | decides to give up writing |
| 1887 | dies in Nieder-Ingelheim on 19th February; cremated in Gotha on 23rd February |
